Laundry meter



Patented Mar. 12, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LAUNDRY METER Frederick A. Vincent, Wilbraham,

Mass, as-

Application January 15, 1938, Serial No. 185,126

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a device to enable the customer of a laundry to determine the cost of laundering a given bundle of laundry and at the same time compare the cost of differing types of laundry service. More specifically, it relates to the combination of a weighing mechanism with interchangeable means for relating the cost to the weight of the bundle.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a simple and economical but efiicient device for the above purpose. Other and further objects residing in the structural details will be apparent from the following specification and claim.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates one embodiment of the invention:

Fig. l is a front view of the device;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

29 Fig. 3 is a detail view on a smaller scale of the card element alone showing the arrangement of the opening and cuts; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing the initial step in assembling the parts.

Referring to the drawing, reference character In designates a spring balance which may be of usual construction and need not be described further than to say that it includes a casing H to the upper end of which is attached a ring I2,

;-:) engaging in a lug l3 formed on the end of the casing, by which the device may be held, and a spring supported rod M to the lower end of which is secured a hook 15 to hold the bundle being Weighed. The face of easing I0 comprises a plate IS, the side edges of which extend beyond casing It! to form flanges ll. The plate I6 is provided with a central opening 18 adjacent which are positioned the usual weight designations indicated at IS. A pointer 20 secured to rod l4 travels over the face of the plate I6 and the indications ill to show by its position the weight of the bundle in the usual manner.

Releasably secured to the weighing member is a card structure 25. As best shown in Fig. 3,

. the card is provided with an elongated centrally positioned opening 26 forming side wing portions 21 connected at the top by a cross member 29 and at the bottom by cross member 30.

Ihe transverse width of the opening 28 is made approximately equal to or slightly less than the transverse width of the casing H. The inner edge of member is extended into the side portions by cuts 3| of sufficient depth to admit the flanges ll of plate H5.

The card 25 is assembled on the balance 10 by introducing the upper edge of plate It through the cuts 3| as shown in Fig. 4 and sliding the card downwardly, with the free edge portions of the card-adjacent the opening 26 engaged behind flanges H (see Fig. 2), until the top cross 5 member 29- engages the top of easing H as indicated in dotted line in Fig. 1, the member 29 being positioned between the upper end of plate I6 and the lug Hi. When the card is in operative position the cross piece 30 lies across the 10 lower end of plate H5.

The wing portions 21 carry printed indicia which as shown, take the form of columns of figures representing the prices for clifierent classes of laundry service, here designated as A, 15 B, C, etc. In practice these diiferent classes are given names such as damp, economy, finest, etc., and I contemplate that such names, which vary with the laundry offering the service, will be employed in place of the letter designations shown. The columns adjacent the plate l6 show pounds, and the figures in the several columns opposite the pound designations indicate the cost of that weight of laundry for the type of service indicated at the head of the column. Each weight price'is shown associated with the weight scale I!) of the balance by lines 36. While the balance scale I9 is shown condensed as regards the weight column 35 of the card, it will be understood that the exact arrangement will depend on the type of balance used. In the form shown, the money values are related to the scale of the balance by both the figures under column 35 and the lines 36 and while both are of advantage in the use of the device it will be understood that only one may be used as may be found desirable.

It will be seen that by my invention a laundry customer may quickly determine in advance what 40 the charge will be for a given bundle of laundry and at the same time can compare the cost of the difierent types of service. This latter is of advantage to the laundry company since frequently a realization of the relatively small difference between the types of service will induce the customer to request a higher type of service than would be the case if the totals of each were not definitely known.

It will further be evident that the cards can be printedat small cost and since they are easily removed from the balance and replaced, changes in price or types of service may be made without impairing the utility of the device and without substantial expense.

I claim:

A device of the character described which comprises a spring balance having a front plate forming side flanges, a card provided with a central opening forming wing portions and top and bottom cross members, the inner edge of the bottom cross member being extended by cuts into the wing portions a distance at least equal to the width of said front plate, the flanges of the front plate being engaged in said cuts, and the free inner edges of the wing portions being engaged behind the flanges of the front plate with said top cross member positioned behind the upper end of the front plate and the lower cross member positioned in front of the lower end of said front plate.

FREDERICK A. VINCENT. 

